


The Bad Future

by John_Q_Sample



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991)
Genre: Aftermath, Darkwarrior Duck - Freeform, Family, Fear, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Nightmares, Post-Canon, Time and Punishment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 18:46:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18146018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Q_Sample/pseuds/John_Q_Sample
Summary: Darkwing is taking Gosalyn home from a fight with a criminal, which she technically wasn't supposed to intend, when she is forced to confess what she witnessed during the "bad future" (from "Time and Punishment").





	The Bad Future

Darkwing soars across rooftops with his daughter resting in his arms.

"I think you just sprained your ankle, but when we get back to the Ratcatcher, I'll take you to the doctor just to be sure. Then we'll have to see if there's a pharmacy open to get you a brace," Darkwing says, mostly talking to herself as she's not responding. He continues to fill the silence. "I'm glad you're okay, but you shouldn't have followed me like that! I told you to stay with the Ratcatcher, didn't I? You could have been seriously hurt. I don't know  _what_ I'd do if something happened to you."

And somewhere, Gosalyn sees it. The Darkwarrior Duck, with his glowing red eyes and spikes glinting from his suit.

Gosalyn screams and buries her head into Darkwing's chest.

Skidding to a halt, Darkwing stops his rooftop travel and looks down at Gosalyn. Her whole body is shuddering with sobs as she clings to him so tightly it hurts his chest.

Gosalyn doesn't cry easily, and he's seen her emotionlessly and sometimes even cheerily handle situations that were both physically and mentally more difficult than the simple case that happened tonight. It doesn't take a child psychology book for Darkwing to figure out that something else is afoot.

Unable to unfasten her grip from him, Darkwing simply sits down on the rooftop. Though they have a view of the whole city before them, there's no one there to witness the scene.

"What's wrong, Gos?"

"I promise I won't get hurt," she sniffles. Her voice is fraught with panic, like she believes something genuinely terrible could happen to her - something beyond an injury.

Darkwing's face twists with concern as he looks at her. "Hey, it was just a sprained ankle."

Gosalyn pulls back and wipes off her eyes. "It's not - it's not that."

"What is it?"

She shakes her head.

"Gos, you have to tell me." Darkwing leans forward and puts his arms on her shoulders. "If you don't tell me what's wrong, how am I supposed to help you?"

Rather than responding, Gosalyn just leans against him and continues to cry. With a sigh, Darkwing puts one arm around her and uses his free arm to search through the many pockets of his suit. Finally, in the middle of the cape, he finds one pocket that contains a package of tissues. He pulls them out and gives some to Gosalyn.

Crushing the tissue in her hands, she scrubs off the tears like dirt. She's calmer now, not crying but still shaking and unable to speak normally.

Darkwing offers a lopsided smile. "You ready to talk?"

"You're not gonna like it," Gosalyn says.

"I don't like seeing you so sad, either."

Gosalyn presses the tissue to her eye again. "You know how I accidentally went with Quackerjack and Megavolt into the future?"

Darkwing struggles to recall it. Snapping his fingers, he says, "That time-traveling top, right?"

"Yeah. Well, we went to a...bad version of St. Canard. You were there in the future, too."

"Oh?"

"But you were  _why_ it was a bad version of St. Canard."

With his brow furrowed and his beak kept in a tight, concerned frown, Darkwing listens in silence as Gosalyn tearfully regales the story of her time in the future, a dark version of St. Canard ruled by Darkwarrior Duck. A superhero turned dictator who rules the entire city, with a strict curfew and statues of him and everything.

The worst part about the story is that it most certainly sounds like  _him_. Perhaps on a horrible day, but him nonetheless. Darkwarrior Duck is a broken father who thought he lost his daughter. And thinking back to the past few times harm has come to Gosalyn, Darkwing's strongest memories are of fear and, more pertinently, fury. He would ruthlessly dispose of any villain who would hurt her, and he knows it.

"Dad?" Gosalyn whispers, peering up at him nervously.

"I was just...thinking," Darkwing says. "That's a lot to deal with, Gos. You should have told me earlier."

Gosalyn shrugs. "I thought..."

"That you could handle it?" Darkwing asks. "Or that I couldn't?"

Gosalyn sighs and sinks down.

"I'll be honest...I'm not sure what to think about this. There are a lot of strange things out there, but a 'bad future' like  _that_?"

"Well, it should be okay, right? I came back, so it wouldn't ever happen...unless..."

"Gosalyn, you aren't responsible for my emotional state."

"I know..."

"I'll be worried about you no matter what, but you don't have to live in fear that I'm going to become a bad guy." Darkwing cocks his head. "The Darkwarrior Duck must have scared you to death, didn't he?"

Gosalyn nods. "I still have nightmares about it," she admits.

"When you do, you tell me, okay?"

"I just felt like it was my fault that you - that he - he was like that."

"It wasn't," Darkwing says. "Gosalyn, I promise you it wasn't. Darkwarrior Duck hurt people, but that was all his fault, not yours. Do you understand me?"

Gosalyn nods meekly. She's never before been so subdued.

"Can we go home?"

"Sure, Gos." They'll still go to the doctor tomorrow morning. He can get an ice pack at home and leave her ankle elevated until then. She'll have to fall asleep on the couch, and he'll probably stay with her until then.

He scoops her up again and jumps across the next few buildings. Then he brings her down to the alley, where the Ratcatcher was parked before they went on their chase on-foot.

Gosalyn fastens her helmet under her chin.

"How's your ankle?" he asks.

She pokes it. As her finger goes into her skin, pain seeps through her ankle and foot. "It's...okay."

As he sits down on the motorcycle, he has the creeping feeling that there's something else that should be said. What it could be, he can't tell. There's no simple bandage for this wound.

"Gosalyn," Darkwing says.

He hesitates as she looks up at her.

"You're as smart as you are brave. You wouldn't...do anything stupid that would get yourself killed."

"Right."

And...? "I'm really sorry you had to go through that 'bad future'. If something else like that ever happens again - or, well, something just as disturbing since I don't think it's likely that - " He cuts himself off and shakes his head to clear his mind. "If there's something bothering you, you can tell me, okay? Even if you don't want to...you could just tell Launchpad."

"Okay, Dad."

"Okay?"

"I said 'okay'."

"Right. I know. Good."

He shudders with another sigh. He'll have to watch out for this now - it's not over tonight.

Leaning forward, he kisses her on the forehead. "I love you, Gosalyn."

"Love you, Dad."


End file.
